Day 16

Today we did quite a bit of driving. We were going to go to Uncle Tom’s Cabin but we missed the exit. So we went to a Museum that was about slaves. There we watched a video about the slaves and the people who settled in Buxton, Ontario. After the video we walked around and saw the tools that they brought with them and lots of things that were used to punish the slaves if they ran away. One of those things was a collar that had big spike-things on them with little chains on them so if the slave tried to run away again, they would be caught because of the noise.
Buxton was a place where slaves were free and a man named Reverend King owned 9,000 acres. He had rules like – you had to have a picket fence around the front of your house, your house had to be a certain amount of feet from the road, and your house had to have at least 4 rooms in it but no less. We saw a house that a former slave had made and it was a single man who had passed it down to other people.
Then we went to a barn that had an apple cider press that made apple cider. Also, we saw a machine that separated grain from the chaff.
Then we went to a school house that 14 African Canadians attended and 2 white students in the first year and as the years went on, there were more white people than African Canadians. It was a Christian school and one of the regular schools had to shut down because they did not have enough students. In the school cloak rooms, the girls had to come in on the left side and the boys on the right. One teacher had to teach up to 9 grades. When you got to 7th grade, you went to high school. When you finished 9th grade you went to college.
The assistant curator’s name is in the acknowledgements of the Elijah of Buxton book that I read. I suggest you read it!
Allison


One of the ball & chains on display - this was before the slaves were free and living in Canada.

This man's ancestors came to Buxton, Ontario - he is in the acknowledgements of the book that Allison read - Elijah of Buxton (great read!)

Apple Cider press (Amy would like one of these - ha ha)

The school house - original building!